The Appointed Festivals

23 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed festivals,^(A) the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.^(B)

The Sabbath

³ “‘There are six days when you may work,^(C) but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest,^(D) a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work;^(E) wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the Lord.

The Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread^(F)

⁴ “‘These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times:^{(G) 5} The Lord’s Passover^(H) begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.^{(I) 6} On the fifteenth day of that month the Lord’s Festival of Unleavened Bread^(J) begins; for seven days^(K) you must eat bread made without yeast. ⁷ On the first day hold a sacred assembly^(L) and do no regular work. ⁸ For seven days present a food offering to the Lord.^(M) And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.’”

Offering the Firstfruits

⁹ The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁰ “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you^(N) and you reap its harvest,^(O) bring to the priest a sheaf^(P) of the first grain you harvest.^{(Q) 11} He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord^(R) so it will be accepted^(S) on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. ¹² On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb a year old^(T) without defect,^{(U) 13} together with its grain offering^(V) of two-tenths of an ephah^[a](W) of the finest flour mixed with olive oil—a food offering presented to the Lord, a pleasing aroma—and its drink offering^(X) of a quarter of a hin^[b] of wine.^{(Y) 14} You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain,^(Z) until the very day you bring this offering to your God.^(AA) This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come,^(AB) wherever you live.^(AC)

Azariah King of Judah^(A)

15 In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah^[a](B) son of Amaziah king of Judah began to reign. ² He was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jekoliah; she was from Jerusalem. ³ He did what was right^(C) in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. ⁴ The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.

⁵ The Lord afflicted^(D) the king with leprosy^[b] until the day he died, and he lived in a separate house.^[c](E) Jotham^(F) the king’s son had charge of the palace^(G) and governed the people of the land.

⁶ As for the other events of Azariah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? ⁷ Azariah rested^(H) with his ancestors and was buried near them in the City of David. And Jotham^(I) his son succeeded him as king.

Zechariah King of Israel

⁸ In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned six months. ⁹ He did evil^(J) in the eyes of the Lord, as his predecessors had done. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit.

¹⁰ Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against Zechariah. He attacked him in front of the people,^[d] assassinated^(K) him and succeeded him as king. ¹¹ The other events of Zechariah’s reign are written in the book of the annals^(L) of the kings of Israel. ¹² So the word of the Lord spoken to Jehu was fulfilled:^(M) “Your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.”^[e]

Shallum King of Israel

¹³ Shallum son of Jabesh became king in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah king of Judah, and he reigned in Samaria^(N) one month. ¹⁴ Then Menahem son of Gadi went from Tirzah^(O) up to Samaria. He attacked Shallum son of Jabesh in Samaria, assassinated^(P) him and succeeded him as king.

¹⁵ The other events of Shallum’s reign, and the conspiracy he led, are written in the book of the annals^(Q) of the kings of Israel.

¹⁶ At that time Menahem, starting out from Tirzah, attacked Tiphsah^(R) and everyone in the city and its vicinity, because they refused to open^(S) their gates. He sacked Tiphsah and ripped open all the pregnant women.

⁹ “Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Will it thrive? Will it not be uprooted and stripped of its fruit so that it withers? All its new growth will wither. It will not take a strong arm or many people to pull it up by the roots.^{(A) 10} It has been planted,^(B) but will it thrive? Will it not wither completely when the east wind strikes it—wither away in the plot where it grew?^(C)’”

¹¹ Then the word of the Lord came to me: ¹² “Say to this rebellious people, ‘Do you not know what these things mean?^(D)’ Say to them: ‘The king of Babylon went to Jerusalem and carried off her king and her nobles,^(E) bringing them back with him to Babylon.^{(F) 13} Then he took a member of the royal family and made a treaty^(G) with him, putting him under oath.^(H) He also carried away the leading men^(I) of the land, ¹⁴ so that the kingdom would be brought low,^(J) unable to rise again, surviving only by keeping his treaty. ¹⁵ But the king rebelled^(K) against him by sending his envoys to Egypt^(L) to get horses and a large army.^(M) Will he succeed? Will he who does such things escape? Will he break the treaty and yet escape?^(N)

¹⁶ “‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, he shall die^(O) in Babylon, in the land of the king who put him on the throne, whose oath he despised and whose treaty he broke.^{(P) 17} Pharaoh^(Q) with his mighty army and great horde will be of no help to him in war, when ramps^(R) are built and siege works erected to destroy many lives.^{(S) 18} He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Because he had given his hand in pledge^(T) and yet did all these things, he shall not escape.

¹⁹ “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, I will repay him for despising my oath and breaking my covenant.^{(U) 20} I will spread my net^(V) for him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment^(W) on him there because he was unfaithful^(X) to me. ²¹ All his choice troops will fall by the sword,^(Y) and the survivors^(Z) will be scattered to the winds.^(AA) Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken.^(AB)

²² “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will take a shoot^(AC) from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain.^{(AD) 23} On the mountain heights^(AE) of Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruit^(AF) and become a splendid cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches.^{(AG) 24} All the trees of the forest^(AH) will know that I the Lord bring down^(AI) the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish.^(AJ)

“‘I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.^(AK)’”

Psalm 105^(A)

⁴⁶ An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest.^{(A) 47} Jesus, knowing their thoughts,^(B) took a little child and had him stand beside him. ⁴⁸ Then he said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.^(C) For it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest.”^(D)

⁴⁹ “Master,”^(E) said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.”

⁵⁰ “Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you.”^(F)

Samaritan Opposition

⁵¹ As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven,^(G) Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.^{(H) 52} And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan^(I) village to get things ready for him; ⁵³ but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ When the disciples James and John^(J) saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them^[a]?”^{(K) 55} But Jesus turned and rebuked them. ⁵⁶ Then he and his disciples went to another village.

Paul’s Joy Over the Church’s Repentance

² Make room for us in your hearts.^(A) We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one. ³ I do not say this to condemn you; I have said before that you have such a place in our hearts^(B) that we would live or die with you. ⁴ I have spoken to you with great frankness; I take great pride in you.^(C) I am greatly encouraged;^(D) in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds.^(E)

⁵ For when we came into Macedonia,^(F) we had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn^(G)—conflicts on the outside, fears within.^{(H) 6} But God, who comforts the downcast,^(I) comforted us by the coming of Titus,^{(J) 7} and not only by his coming but also by the comfort you had given him. He told us about your longing for me, your deep sorrow, your ardent concern for me, so that my joy was greater than ever.

⁸ Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter,^(K) I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while— ⁹ yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. ¹⁰ Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation^(L) and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. ¹¹ See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern,^(M) what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter. ¹² So even though I wrote to you,^(N) it was neither on account of the one who did the wrong^(O) nor on account of the injured party, but rather that before God you could see for yourselves how devoted to us you are. ¹³ By all this we are encouraged.

In addition to our own encouragement, we were especially delighted to see how happy Titus^(P) was, because his spirit has been refreshed by all of you. ¹⁴ I had boasted to him about you,^(Q) and you have not embarrassed me. But just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting about you to Titus^(R) has proved to be true as well. ¹⁵ And his affection for you is all the greater when he remembers that you were all obedient,^(S) receiving him with fear and trembling.^{(T) 16} I am glad I can have complete confidence in you.^(U)